Funeral of former Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to be h | World | News
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s funerals will be held next month. (Image: Getty)
Funeral services for Iran’s former supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei will be held in July, according to the state news agency, as mediators say an agreement to end the war is close.
According to the news of Iran’s state television IRIB, funeral, burial and farewell ceremonies for Khamenei will be held between July 4-9. The news came as mediators said an agreement to end the war was finally nearing, despite a fragile ceasefire and threats from both sides of the conflict.
Khamenei was killed in the attacks launched by Israel and the USA against Iran in late February. He has since been replaced by his son Mojtaba. Funeral ceremonies for Khamenei, his daughter and son-in-law are expected to begin on the same day in Tehran.
A deal aimed at ending war in the Middle East is “closer than ever” and is expected to be finalized within 24 hours, Pakistani prime minister Shehbaz Sharif said on Saturday. Pakistan is preparing for the electronic signing of the agreement, following which technical level talks will be held next week.
Iran’s religious leader Mojtaba Khamenei. (Image: Getty)
Mr. Sharif said the following in his post on the X channel: “We thank the United States of America and the Islamic Republic of Iran for their determination during the negotiations, and we express our sincere gratitude to our brothers in the region for their support.”
The alleged progress in negotiations comes after Iran exchanged fire with the United States and Israel for three days this week, threatening to push the Middle East into an all-out war. Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, said Friday in a post about the Xth US president that a deal “has never been this close.” Donald TrumpMr. Araghchi, who has said many times in recent weeks that countries are on the verge of an agreement, shared this post on his social media account.
The war launched by the USA and Israel on February 28 shook the Middle East and almost stopped oil and natural gas shipments from the Persian Gulf.
A fragile ceasefire has been in effect since April 7. Three regional officials said they expect a signing ceremony for the agreement in the coming days after approval by officials in Washington and Tehran.
On Thursday, Mr. Trump claimed significant progress had been made in the talks, just hours after threatening to escalate attacks and seize Iran’s oil industry.
President Donald Trump claimed that the war in Iran is nearing its end, despite the latest attacks between the United States and Tehran this week. But Iran continues to deny that a deal is close. The United States and Iran could potentially reach a deal, Trump said on Thursday, creating a framework to end a three-month war that is unpopular at home and has destabilized global oil markets.
US President Donald Trump. (Image: Getty)
Iran, through foreign ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei, denied that the US and Tehran had completed peace talks and said the country would not compromise on its “red lines”.
Khamenei has dramatically reshaped the Islamic Republic since taking the reins following the death of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini in 1989. Khomeini was a fiery, charismatic ideologue who led the overthrow of the shah and established the rule of Shiite Muslim clerics tasked with spreading religious purity. After all, he remained in power much longer than Khomeini. He has greatly expanded the Shiite clergy and made the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard the most important supporter of his rule.
The Guard has become a military and commercial giant with a hand in Iran’s economic sectors, the country’s most elite force and the head of its ballistic missile arsenal.
